What if GDA Disbanded?

[Unregistered]

Hypothetically speaking, if GDA disbanded or the clubs decided to walk away, what would happen?

Would ECNL open it up for more clubs? Past experiences indicate otherwise.

Would DA players then move to a club that offered ECNL? Would Stars put in a third team? Would some of the these ECNL players need to move to NPL? Would some DA players need to move to NPL?

Seems to me, at this point and until ECNL Mafia allows more teams, some should be glad DA is here because you could be the player or parent on a Stars B team who could be out of luck.

Of course, ECNL would.

[Unregistered]

Of course, ECNL would.

ECNL would what? Expand?

GDA is here due to their desire to shut out other clubs, so would they change now? Is that what you meant?

[Unregistered]

If you are on a Stars B team then you are probably not good enough to play DA so this is an odd comment. Stars has ZERO motivation to keep great players on B teams, that would be stupid for them to do. In fact what team or coach would say, hmm, here's a great player, let's put them on a B team so they won't really help our club? Nope, they are motivated to win. That's it.

I know several Stars Lancaster UNITED players who were given Seacoast DA contracts.

[Unregistered]

And what are the chances any other club in new England gets ECNL on the girls side?

Slim to none I’d guess. Seems like NEFC & Oakwood would be the logical choice if there was expansion.

[Unregistered]

Oooohhh...touched a nerve there.

You didn't really answer the question with that rant. By disbanding GDA, that puts 60-ish players into the player pool that aren't terrible. Open to debate and personal opinions/agendas as to how to grade out those players, but they aren't trash. Some won't travel to an ECNL club (or they would've already in some cases), but expect some will. Call it half, so that's 30 players in a pool to compete for (using the Stars example) 40-60 spots. Say 25% of them (made up number) would be bumped from an ECNL team, no?

If you want to know what would happen just go back in time 4 years ago. There was no GDA then. BBA was not in the ECNL (yes there were there for that one year in between but prior to that were not). So the only difference is that the Stars has 2 teams now and before had 1. The landscape would be virtually the same as it was. And yes some of those players may opt to try to move to ECNL, others may not. but at least now there would be one more MA based team to accommodate them if they did.

[Unregistered]

How self serving For a team director to disallow one teams entrance into Ecnl and yet the same team be allowed to make two teams.

[Unregistered]

How self serving For a team director to disallow one teams entrance into Ecnl and yet the same team be allowed to make two teams.

Bingo.

But, since every club is in it for the almighty dollar, good for them for figuring it out. That's ultimately why they walked from DA. Made more financial sense to do it this way.

[Unregistered]

The answer is what it's always been. Clubs would be spinning their teams' leagues, labels and status and parents buying into it, emotionally and financially. The creation of one league and the demise of another doesn't change the pool of talent. And despite the spin, it doesn't really change the development or identification of the talent either. Players, like water, have an uncanny ability to seek and find their own level when it's all said and done.

[Unregistered]

If you want to know what would happen just go back in time 4 years ago. There was no GDA then. BBA was not in the ECNL (yes there were there for that one year in between but prior to that were not). So the only difference is that the Stars has 2 teams now and before had 1. The landscape would be virtually the same as it was. And yes some of those players may opt to try to move to ECNL, others may not. but at least now there would be one more MA based team to accommodate them if they did.

So you are saying ECNL is watered down?

[Unregistered]

So you are saying ECNL is watered down?

Yes, but that's really not the point of my post. Just ask yourself what the hierarchy of girls soccer and the emergence of pay-to-play over the last couple of decades has looked like. It's gone from a pyramid to a trapezoid. In the end, the doubling of ECNL teams and addition of GDA programs will probably end up being MUCH better for the business of soccer than the product on the field.

[Unregistered]

I sense desperation from NEFC headquarter. They are losing players and coaches left and right and DA is not the solution for the problem. I would rather play in ECNL C team for better regional competition.

[Unregistered]

It is not if. DA is disbanded. Not even themselves believe in their own product and some clubs are looking for alternatives already.

[Unregistered]

I sense desperation from NEFC headquarter. They are losing players and coaches left and right and DA is not the solution for the problem. I would rather play in ECNL C team for better regional competition.

Nothing to do with NEFC. Saw the question posed in the NY forum and I was curious about here.

I have no dog in the fight either way, so those who make posts like the above actually show the desperation.

[Unregistered]

Nothing to do with NEFC. Saw the question posed in the NY forum and I was curious about here.

I have no dog in the fight either way, so those who make posts like the above actually show the desperation.

No dogs in the fight either. NEFC chose DA (wrong business move IMO), and they are losing players to ECNL and NPL. I don't see them recovering from it so soon.

[Unregistered]

If you want to know what would happen just go back in time 4 years ago. There was no GDA then. BBA was not in the ECNL (yes there were there for that one year in between but prior to that were not). So the only difference is that the Stars has 2 teams now and before had 1. The landscape would be virtually the same as it was. And yes some of those players may opt to try to move to ECNL, others may not. but at least now there would be one more MA based team to accommodate them if they did.

All it would do is shift the number of players around in each level of the pyramid. The size of the pyramid/#players remains the same (actually even less as youth soccer participation is down 15% over the last 3 years).